PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Martin Kaymer and Jordan Spieth are having a blast at The Players Championship -- one because he's playing good golf again, the other because that's all he's been doing.

Kaymer followed his record-tying 63 on the Stadium Course on the TPC Sawgrass with a 3-under 69. He had a one-shot lead going into the weekend as he tries to end more than two years without a victory. "Everything is coming together nicely," said Kaymer, a former PGA champion and world No. 1.

Spieth, runner-up at the Masters, hasn't shown any signs of a letdown. He pieced together another bogey-free round and converted pure swings into tap-in birdies on consecutive holes on the back nine that carried him to a 6-under 66.

"I don't think it's going to be possible to stay bogey-free for two more rounds with the greens firming up," Spieth, making his Players Championship debut, said.

Kaymer was at 12-under 132. That matched the best 36-hole score on the Stadium Course at the TPC Sawgrass in 20 years, dating to Greg Norman's record-setting performance.

Spieth hasn't made a bogey all week -- he has gone 51 holes without a bogey going back to the third round at Hilton Head (South Carolina).

The 20-year-old Texan was still on the practice range when he saw Kaymer finish at 12 under, a score that felt impossible to catch in warm, blustery weather. The grass remained soft on the golf course, however, allowing players to take aim at the flags.

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Adam Scott, in his first tournament as a married man, kept alive his hopes of going to No. 1 in the world this week with three birdies in his last four holes for a 67. That was a 10-shot improvement from Thursday and enabled him to make the cut on the number at even-par 144.

Rory McIlroy shot 42 on the front nine and appeared headed home until making birdie on the 18th hole to salvage a 74 to make the cut.

Not so fortunate was Phil Mickelson. He missed his birdie attempt on No. 18 and had a 70 to miss by one.

Spieth had to scramble for par from short of the ninth green and from behind the 10th green. He hit his stride in the middle of the back nine with two shots that were nearly identical -- a 6-iron on the par-3 13th that rode the ridge down to about 4 feet, and a 6-iron from 184 yards on the 14th to 3 feet.

Russell Henley didn't make a par over his last six holes -- three bogeys, three birdies -- for a 71 and was in third place at 8-under 136. Sergio Garcia (71), U.S. Open champion Justin Rose (71), Gary Woodland (71), Lee Westwood (71) and Jim Furyk (68) were six shots behind.